Students taking drugs are handed testing kits to help them assess whether they are genuine

Students at an elite university who use illegal drugs are being handed testing kits to help them assess whether they are genuine.

The student union at Newcastle University is supporting a project to hand out testing sets to youngsters who use party drugs in a world-first initiative.

The kits can be used to reveal exactly what a drug contains, allowing students to discover if other harmful chemicals have been added.

A colour coordinated chart is included in the drug testing pack allowing students to see what is in their drugsCredit:
Handout

They are part of a new campaign from Students for Sensible Drug Policy's (SSDP) Newcastle chapter called Test Your Drugs, Not Yourself, which was launched on the back of the SSDP's successful drug awareness week at the university.

Holly Mae Robinson, president of SSDP Newcastle, said the drug-testing kits campaign was the next step in a more progressive approach to drugs after the university changed its zero-tolerance stance on drugs last year.

"The idea behind the campaign, while obviously about drugs, at its core is about health and well-being." she said.

"We are not promoting drug use. It's trying to avoid the harm of people that are going to use them. People are always going to use drugs and we just want to make it safer.

Staying away from drugs is obviously the best way to reduce your harm to drugs.Luke Allison

"As far as we know we are the first university that you can find anywhere in the world that has made [the kits] available to students."

Zoe Carre, founder of SSDP Newcastle, who oversees all national projects for SSDP UK, said Newcastle University and its students are leading the way in progressive harm reduction for students.

"The campaign aims to allow students to make a more informed choice about their own substance use, through the provision of drug-testing kits alongside evidence-based information. The overall objective is to prevent serious harm from adulterated substances and save students' lives," she said.

"Students across the UK and globally would benefit from expanded access to such interventions."

The testing kits work on chemical reactions with different substances turning different colours.

SSDP says this process allows people to see what adulterants might be in their drugs so students can make a more informed choice about exactly what they taking.

The student union at Newcastle University is supporting the project Credit:
Alamy

In 2015, The Sunday Sun spoke to Johann Hari, author of the New York Times best-seller Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, about the perils of the illegal drug trade. He said: "What we've got in the moment is unknown criminals selling unknown chemicals to unknown users all in the dark.

"There are some things that are inherently dangerous about these drugs, of course, but an enormous amount of the dangers are caused by the fact that they're illegal.

"Think about how safe the milk trade would be if the milk was smuggled into the country by criminals and then sold by other criminals who massively adulterate it with whatever white liquid they can get hold of."

Luke Allison, the student union's welfare and equality officer, welcomed the SSDP's work on educating students on drug use. "The SSDP are the ones leading the project but we're very happy that we're supporting them," he said. "Our approach to drug policy is that the safest way to take drugs is not to take them at all.

"But students still do and I think if you don't acknowledge that students take drugs or that anyone in society takes drugs, then you're ignoring them and if you're ignoring them their problem is going to continue."

"Staying away from drugs is obviously the best way to reduce your harm to drugs.

"But if you're acknowledging that students will still take drugs then we need to try to promote other ways to reduce harm to those people."

A Newcastle University spokesperson said: "The university does not condone any illegal activity, and students who are found to be using or possessing drugs or other illegal substances are subject to robust disciplinary procedures.

"Nevertheless, we recognise that some students do use, or plan to use, drugs and would strongly encourage them to seek support through our Student Well-being Service. An emphasis on education and harm reduction is an important part of our approach."